St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) products – How variable is the primary material?

Background: Saint John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L., HP) is commonly registered in Europe under the THR scheme (Traditional Herbal Registration) or licensed as a medicine. Nonetheless unregulated medical products and food supplements are accessible through the internet which are often of poor (Booker et al. 2018). The species’ natural distribution stretches through large regions of Europe to China and four subspecies have been distinguished. When compared to the European Pharmacopoeia reference, the presence of additional compounds was linked to so-called Chinese HP. Aim: In order to obtain an integrated picture of the entire chemoprofile, the chemical composition of HP materia prima was studied using a combination techniques well-established in the relevant industries and on The impact of phytogeographic factors on the material prima can shed light on whether the variability of the final products is strongly influenced by these factors of whether they relate to poor processing, adulteration, or other factors linked to the processing of the material.. Methods: 86 Hypericum samples (77 H. perforatum) were collected from 14 countries. Most were authenticated and harvested in the wild; others came as roughly ground material from commercial cultivations, markets and pharmacies. The samples were analysed using HPTLC and 1H-NMR-based PCA. Results and Discussion: Limited variability in the in chemical variability was foundNonetheless, the typical fingerprint of Chinese HP was observed in each specimen from China. Additional compounds were also detected in some samples collected in Spain. Rutin is not necessarily present in the crude material. The variability previously found in the marketed products can be ascribed only partially to the geographical origin of harvested material, but mainly to the plant part harvested, closely related to harvesting techniques, processing and probably time of harvest. Conclusions: HP can be sourced in a consistent composition (and thus quality) from different geographical sources. However, chemical variability needs to be accounted for when evaluating what is considered authentic good material. Therefore, the processing and good practice are all stages of primary importance, calling for a better (self-)regulation and quality assurance along the value chain of a herbal medical product or botanical

Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization imaging mass spectrometry for direct tissue analysis.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is a powerful tool in histopathological characterization and represents a modern analytical technique, enabling two-dimensional detection of molecular components of biological samples. Using this method, it is possible to investigate the spatial distribution of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, cholesterols, nucleic acids, phospholipids, and small molecules in biological systems by in-situ analysis of cell cultures and tissue sections. Recently, MALDI-IMS has become an essential tool for tissue analyses in life science applications, offering global analysis of tissue samples. An advantage of this imaging technique is the acquisition of local molecular expression profiles up to the microscopic level, while maintaining the topographic integrity of the tissue by avoiding time-consuming extraction, purification, or separation steps, respectively. With MALDI-IMS it is possible to determine the distribution of hundreds of unknown compounds in a single measurement, allowing rapid probing of the tissues' biochemistry. Moreover, MALDI-IMS results include qualitative and semiquantitative information, providing unique chemi-morphological information about the tissue status, which represents an important benefit for future analytical interpretation of pathological changes of a tissue. This article summarizes the most recent advances in sample preparation, instrumentation, and data-processing techniques for MALDI-IMS